Former winner Martin Elmiger will lead French team Ag2r La Mondiale at Australia's Tour Down Under in January, organisers said on Friday.Ag2r La Mondiale is the only team to have competed in every edition of the Tour Down Under and Swiss rider Elmiger won the 2007 tour.The French UCI Pro Tour team has produced the most overall winners in the Australian event with Gilles Maignan (2000), Mikel Astarloza (2003), Simon Gerrans (2006) and Elmiger (2007).

CALGARY – The premiers of Canada’s two biggest oil-producing provinces said the escalating debate over the Energy East pipeline should not be turned into an inquiry into total oil field emissions.
“Clearly, we’re talking about the emissions associated with carrying oil from this mode of transport,” Alberta Premier Jim Prentice said in an interview Monday. “We’re not talking about an inquiry about the oil sands or any other field where this oil would come from.

CHARLOTTETOWN — Canada’s premiers have agreed at their annual meeting that they need more money from Ottawa to pay for health-care and infrastructure — a familiar refrain at these gatherings — but there was no consensus Thursday on how much cash they want to deal with crumbling roads and an aging population.
Premier Robert Ghiz, host of Council of the Federation conference in Charlottetown, said those numbers would be released in January, when the premiers have scheduled another meeting.

CHARLOTTETOWN — Canada’s premiers agreed to move forward on a national energy strategy Friday after years of trying to reach a consensus on the plan.
Premier Robert Ghiz of Prince Edward Island said all provinces are now on board with the idea as he concluded three days of meetings in Charlottetown as chairman of their annual conference.
The provinces have been talking about a national energy strategy for years, with Alberta leading the way. Quebec and British Columbia have resisted signing on.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard is being criticized for not speaking French in a speech at a recent conference in Iceland.
But Mr. Couillard snapped back that those taunting him should go to London or New York and see how far speaking French gets them.
There are times, especially on the international scene, when speaking English is required to be understood, he said. That’s especially important when one is pitching a plan on the economic development of Quebec.

MONTREAL • The founder of Quebec oil junior Pétrolia Inc., hailed as a pioneer of petroleum development in the province, has quit the company’s board as the new Liberal government mulls over how to proceed with oil and gas exploration on its territory.
André Proulx resigned his board seat and will not stand for re-election at the company’s upcoming annual shareholders meeting, Pétrolia said in a statement Thursday. No reason was given for his departure.

PARIS — Three Kurdish women, including one of the founders of a militant group battling Turkish troops since 1984, were “executed” at a Kurdish centre in Paris, the interior minister said Thursday. The news prompted angry crowds of Kurds to flood into the area.
Turkey’s Anadolu news agency identified one of the victims as Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. Turkey and its Western allies, including the United States and the European Union, consider the group a terrorist organization.